Over-50

Help May Be on the Way

Globally, traditional capitalism is being questioned - and attacked.

Here in the U.S. that has been an issue in Election 2020.

The informal headquarters for Worldwide Capitalism - Harvard Business School - offers an election on reimagining capitalism.

So, it should be no surprise that the influential organization - the Business Roundtable - has extended the "purpose of a corporation" beyond shareholder value.

That's radical in recent business history.

The primacy of shareholder value had hardened into business orthodoxy. It had been known as the "Friedman Theory, since it had been put out there by economist Milton Friedman.

It had been standard rhetoric in corporate communications. As those of us in executive communications know, the concept was a must in official and unofficial messaging. Internally, no one questioned it - at least not openly.

Now, the group indicates, other stakeholders should be taken into account in its decision-making. They include employees, customers, and community. Who heads the Business Roundtable is the powerful hands-on head of JPMorgan Chase and thought leader Jamie Dimon. Here are more details from The Wall Street Journal.

The implications are huge.

Among them is that the corporation can shift from the obsession with short-term gain to the long-term. "Impatient capital" could become 20th century. Dimon is especially interested in that.

Also, environmentalism can stand toe to toe with other issues in the C-Suite, in conference calls with security analysts, and at shareholder meetings. Already, investors are focusing on matters associated with a changing climate.

Business models such as Uber's, which leverage the use of gig workers who have no benefits, could be censured. Constituencies such as customers and communities could boycott those corporations.

And, the day could come when never again will a location like the Ohio Valley be devastated when a major plant such as GM's former Lordstown one is shut down, with no replacement. Those in the Valley questioned why GM couldn't have retrofitted the production facility for another vehicle which sold better than the sedan. 

Also, what about the collective mental health on planet earth, in nations, in states, and in cities and towns? Clinical depression has been a long-term global crisis, documents the World Health Organization.

Here in the U.S. if the purpose of a corporation really does get broadened, the kind of humane ethos of the late 1960s counterculture would get a second chance.

Meanwhile, those in the branding industry will have to return to the drawing board. Lawyers will receive a different set of marching orders from clients. 

Globally, the language of capitalism will change.

Not getting results from your marketing communications? Complimentary consultation – janegenova374@gmail.com.

Experience Caps Aren't Necessarily about Age Bias Per Se

In the age-discrimination lawsuit "Kleber v. Carefusion Corp" the plaintiff contended age bias in hiring came via an experience cap.

The Carefusion help-wanted was structured to require 3 to 7 years of work experience as a lawyer. No more than that.

Here is a copy of the complaint.

Dale Kleber, age 58 at the time, had plenty more experience than that. However, he still applied for the position. Eventually, Carefusion hired a 29 year old applicant.

The question arose: Was an experience cap leveraged as a stealth tool to discourage the aging from applying for certain jobs?

Well, Kleber's specific challenge didn't pan out.

As Bloomberg Law reports, the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the plaintiff.

Here is a copy of that decision.

The Seventh Circuit, 8 to 4, stated that experience caps didn't constitute a type of disparate impact theory. That is, it wasn't a form of seemingly neutral policy that operated as a type of bias against a protected class.

However, some experts warned employers there could be more Kleber-like experience cap lawsuits. Likely, there will be.

Meanwhile, more and more help-wanted specify experience caps and those Google Forms applicants fill out as part of the job search process explicitly ask the number of years working in X or Y niche. That could be managing Price Per Click (PPC) advertising.

Pragmatism rules that applicants would size up what the "right" number of years is and then play in that very specific sandbox. Yes, redo the past to fit with the present.

Otherwise, there may be no access to the toys in that sandbox, ranging from a weekly pay check to benefits. 

But, the present is not so much about raw age bias, is it. 

Instead it's more about price point. Unless a business has a clear and powerful point of differentiation, it can be caught in competing via price. The best briefing on that is "Blue Ocean Strategy" by W. Chan Kim. Here it can be ordered from Amazon.

To keep the price-to-the-consumer/B-to-B market low, employers seek out workers with just enough experience to do the task well so that they can be paid as low compensation as possible.

The new college graduate who had an internship at a marketing firm specializing with PPC would look a lot more attractive to the budget of the employer than an applicant with 6 years experience. Sure, the newbie will probably fly the coop after 2 years but those 2 years could be very profitable for the business.

More and more help-wanted ads indicate that new college graduates are preferred. Since the 90-yar-old could just be graduating college, that phrasing gets employers off the hook on age bias.

In addition, there has emerged a new human resources model - Burn & Earn. It is described in "Disrupted" by Dan Lyons. Here that hilarious book can be ordered from Amazon. Essentially the game is about bringing in a bunch of enthusiastic newbies, training them to do A but not B, make a bundle, and expect them to keep exiting. Repeat. 

Interesting, though, there is a business, based in Manhattan and Chicago, which seems to champion deep expertise. That's the public affairs firm The Dilenschneider Group. On its website it has a section listing its major players and their years of experience. Here you can click it open.

Listed, for example, are:

•  Fred Bona - 40 years
•  Bob Dilenschneider - 30 years
•  Art Gormley - 30 years.

In the fast-moving world of communications, that's counter-trend.

After all, the sandbox, more and more in a digital universe, is custom-made for digital natives. Clients and prospects know the importance of everything from online influencers to local search engine optimization (SEO). So the new toys in the sandbox include everything from help paying off student loans to free food. 

The question is if businesses such as The Dilenschneider Group which position and package long years of experience as a plus have created the unique edge? Or, are they at a new kind of disadvantage? More importantly, does that give the business leverage with price point? 

As those issues are being duked out in the court of law, the hunt for work, and business branding, as early as the age 40 those needing income are finding doors slammed shut because of bias. Here is the article I published on that. If there is a severe economic downturn, that could worsen, of course. Because of their relatively high compensation, the aging usually have a target on their backs. 

Here is my book, free to click open, on how to navigate around all that Download Outwitting ageism. And here, also free, is one on being able to change. Addiction to any comfort zone can mean professional death. 

Full Disclosure: In my early 40s, Corporate America purged itself of middle-aged middle managers. I had to reimage myself as an entrepreneur. Having gotten the hang of how to change, I plan to stay working 60 hours a week until I am 80. Then, I will re-evaluate.

Not getting results from your marketing communications? Complimentary consultation – janegenova374@gmail.com.

Remembering When Character Mattered

The new story in Silicon Valley is an old-fashioned one.

The focus is on ethics. 

It's because of ethics, reports April Glaser in Slate, that students at Stanford are pushing back on tech companies ranging from Palantir to Facebook. 

For example, SLAP (Students for the Liberation of All People) at Stanford protests that Palantir provides the software that ICE uses. And Stanford's C+Social Group encourages students to do internships at nonprofits versus the tech giants. 

It's not a new story that new graduates in elite universities such as Stanford have been turning down job offers at allegedly ethics challenged corporations such as Facebook.

What is new is that iGen, the age group now in higher education, increasingly is disenchanted with BigTech. It seems that Google's founding mantra - Do No Evil - hasn't played out that way.

Rather than a White Knight riding in to solve the problems on planet earth, BigTech is being viewed as adding to them or creating new ones. 

What could be developing is a return to a time when values like good character mattered.

In the era of the Baby Boomers, when we submitted our personal essays for admission to college we had to describe how we managed an ethical challenge. Lack of good character, such as a negative recommendation from a teacher about personal ethics, could knock one out of the box for everything from attending college to being hired for a part-time job. 

Reform of BigTech could come not from regulators or lawsuits but the ethical revolution among members of iGen. 

Yes, the Department of Justice Investigation of BigTech Can Affect You

It is a possible earthquake for investors and the leadership of BigTech. Wealth, power, influence, and how business is conducted can be reconfigured. The sector may never have another golden age. 

And one wonders if the aftershocks will include criminal accusations against BigTech executives, as have happened in pharma and food. Lawyers, such as the chief compliance officer James Barclay at pharma company Miami-Luken, could be the first to get collared. 

Today, the Department of Justice issued a press release. That announced that its Antitrust Division is focusing on the "practices of market-leading online platforms."

The Division will investigate two major issues. One is how the platforms achieved power.

The other is if they are involved in practices which "have reduced competition, stifled innovation, or otherwise harmed consumers."

The immediate impacts of this announcement can be huge. For example, as MarketWatch reports, in after-hours trading, there was a decline in the stock prices of Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google.

Depending on how spooked investors become, that could drag down the overall market. Is the bull run finally over?

Those depending on the stocks in their portfolios for retirement might have to remain working. Those who are retired might have go back to work, as the Federal Reserve documents, like one-third of all the other retirees have already done. 

Smaller competitors in the tech sector will now see niches they can break into. Those needing partners and services might invite them in.

The best and brightest might not chase careers in BigTech - or even business. Who knows, as when John F. Kennedy became U.S. president, there might be a return to selflessness. Baby Boomers recall when Kennedy told youth not to ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

And, after the cleanup is complete post-investigation, capitalism might be very different. That's anticipated. At Harvard Business School there is an elective: Reimagining Capitalism.

Among those with nothing to lose or gain in this development, the happy fantasy could be envisioning members of the BigTech leadership in handcuffs. MarketWatch notes that Facebook is a special target in the investigation.

Not getting results from your marketing communications? Complimentary consultation – janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Boys Who Allegedly Don't Grow Up

Adolescent boys are practically delusional about where they can channel their sex drive.

They are also Masters of The Smirk. How many parents, even sophisticated ones, have barked out to their teenage sons: Wipe that smirk off your face.

Also, boys in those years between childhood and adult responsibility tend to be mean.

In addition, they frequently get into a pickle with the law.

As we watched Episode Two of Showtime's "The Loudest Voice in the Room" Sunday night, some of us had an ah-ha moment. Could the code about whom Roger Ails really was be broken by analyzing Ailes as a Boy-Man. The media tycoon with the smirk on his face.

Somehow Ailes might have missed that rite of passage which males undergo to leave boyish things behind. Yes, Ailes might well be a classic case of arrested development. Here is TV's summary of Episode Two. 

And, it was the play-out of that syndrome which might have kicked off #MeToo. Ailes died before any of the allegations of sexual misconduct at Fox could be proved in court. So, we will never know for certain if Ailes was the sexual predator he has been suspected to be. However the suspicions were enough for The Murdochs to oust him from Fox.

Meanwhile, this Showtime series, which re-interprets Ailes' rise and fall, could be affecting other careers. For instance, in Episode Two, Rupert Murdoch does not come across as the cunning fox he is usually portrayed as.

Here is speculation about losers and winners from Showtime's "The Loudest Voice in the Room." That programming, although not a ratings blockbuster, could havee long-term impacts on individual professional lives and media in America.

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

Becoming Invisible, Then Isolating

Since 2006, the rate of suicide in the U.S. has increased 2% each year.

In addition, suicide attempts are at about 1.4 million annually.

Those are just some of the statistics the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released today from its recent study. Here are more details from Bloomberg.

A sign of these suicidal times, talking about thoughts of offing oneself is no longer taboo. And it has become commonplace.

In fact, last night a Millennial neighbor and I chatted up in front of our building about our bout of suicidal ideation earlier in the week. The woman next door who overheard us joined in. My quip was that when a date asked me my purpose in life, I blurted out: Trying my best to stay alive. 

Yeah, we are a nation in lousy emotional shape.

As the Bloomberg article points out, the 60-year run of optimism about treatments for mental illness - ranging from medication to take therapy - was magical thinking. A reason for that is also something Bloomberg notes:

" ... psychological stressors can activate a genetic predisposition, so life circumstances matter a lot. And the U.S. is home to some particularly challenging ones ..."

WORK SUCKS

At the top of the list is the disenchantment with work. Since Puritan times the work ethic has been the unofficial religion in America. That belief system is being battered on all fronts.

Some don't have enough work.

Others work at what pays peanuts.

Those who have lots of well-paid work such as lawyers, like Gabe MacConaill, are committing suicide. Or they are self-destructing in other ways be those drugs or embezzling client funds and getting caught.

A reason FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) has caught fire is that too many are treated so badly by employers, clients, and customers while working. The dream is to find satisfaction elsewhere.

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS

The pain is palpable. And, as fellow human beings, we feel it.

So many decent human beings are suffering and it's needless.

The most obvious instance of that is homelessness. Some cities look like third-world countries.

But more pervasive is the extreme loneliness. Gone is the ability to even have a conversation. The Diane Sawyer two-hour television special on screen time pointed the finger for this at digital technology. In addition, the aging become invisible. Then they self-isolate.

RATS NO LONGER STAY IN THE BASEMENT

In Manhattan there used to be the old saying: If the rats stay in the basement, you know things are under control. It's when the rats climb the stairs and merrily join the diners in the restaurant that you know the social system is collapsing. 

The dark aspects of society - corruption, narcissism, violence, and bullying - have taken over. We watch an inspiring film such as "Breakthrough" and are incapable of feeling hope.

It's overdue that the key institutions in society such as the mental health system, education, government, and the private sector look at what Bloomberg labeled "life circumstances." Those are the levers to push to reduce suicide.

Meanwhile, it is possible to get through the day.

Talking to one trusted acquaintance can release the despair.

There are caring human beings at Samaritans. That free hotline (212-673-3000) operates 24/7.

Go the animal shelter and adopt a companion, even if that means relocating to a pet-friendly apartment.

Do one decent human act. That can be as small a gesture as holding the door open for a mother carrying a child. 

Full Disclosure: Several members of my family committed suicide. 

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

Stay Healthy

In Ohio, a medical doctor looking like the earnest boy next door - William Husel - is arrested. He is charged with 25 counts of murder for allegedly administering fatal doses of fentanyl. 

Much further east, in New England, Boston Magazine publishes a scathing expose. The subhead reads:

"Sexual misconduct, sloppy - sometimes catastrophic - mistakes, and a medical board that's been known to look the other way. Local physicians keep getting away with bad medicine, but you may never know who they are until it's too late."

The author of the article Michael Damiano depicts a profession in which there is little accountability. What is typical is that medical doctors who are disciplined at one hospital simply hop to another. Or, if the situation is that serious they leave the state and get set up in medical practice in another.

This in not unique to Massachusetts. Nationwide as few as 10% of medical mistakes are reported. In Massachusetts, the state medical board received in one year 211 complaints. Only 11 medical doctors were disciplined. 

According to data from the National Practitioner Data Bank, 200 medical doctors in Massachusetts had been in the loop for at least 5 malpractice incidents. None of them had lost their license to practice medicine.

Reflection: Now, when neighbors say they have great trust in their medical doctor, we will consider them downright naive. Yes, do that signature smirk of teenagers.

Trust may never be restored.

One solution is to pull out all stops to remain healthy. 

If that fails, consult with a local shaman.

In southwestern Arizona, a faith healer eliminated the crippling pain in my left hand and wrist.

A group of faith healers prayed over me for 3 sessions. That was for the clinical depression the insurance companies and I had paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars to treat. That group of shamans didn't promise total relief. For the rest they trained me in deep meditation.

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

 

 

 

 

Reimagining Capitalism - Can Best and Brightest Pull That Off?

"Citing crushing student debt, punishing hours and 'toxic' work environments, more than half - 58 percent - of beginning Florida lawyers believe their careers are becoming less desirable, according to the latest Young Lawyers Division study." In "YLD Study Tracks The Concerns Of Florida's Young Lawyers," in Florida Bar, April 30, 2019. Here is the article.

One might have expected this kind of rapid disenchantment in the pressure-cooker Northeast legal world. But, not in the sunshine state.

For newbie lawyers, Florida is turning out to be Paradise Lost. According to that same survey, 41 percent are considering a career change or had considered it. 

YLD president Christian George says this means at least one thing: The Florida bar is on the right track in focusing on health and wellness as a major priority.

Of those surveyed, 39 percent noted that they had experienced stress symptoms ranging from panic attacks to flashbacks. 

Those who feel they have a handle on the stress attribute that to one or more of the following:

Therapy

Giving service

Yoga

Exercise

Meditation

Journaling

Twelve step programs

Religion.

However, the young lawyers in Florida are hardly alone in being overwhelmed emotionally and physically by the work they do.

Stanford Graduate Business School professor Jeffrey Pfeffer documented that this is a global phenomenon.

His book "Dying for a Paycheck" provides details of how those in all kinds of jobs, from leadership to lower rankings on the food chain, suffer intensely.

That can literally kill. Either the worker dies of something related to the stress/long hours or commits suicide. Here the book can be ordered from Amazon.

Given the pervasiveness of the negative impacts of work worldwide one wonders if employers are truly sincere when they introduce health and wellness initiatives. Or, are they simultaneously sending a message that the work must still get done on time and on budget, no matter how all that is pushing human beings beyond their ability to cope.

Activists in myriad nations are reviewing the fundamentals of capitalism. Harvard Business School has an elective - Reimagining Capitalism. 

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

The American Way

It was an international media sensation.

A poor girl born in Russia in 1991, with a stop-over in Germany, had figured out the American Way to wealth.

It was built through presenting the right appearance and funding whatever with money you didn't have - at least not then.

The trial of Anna Sorokin aka Anna Delvey ran about four weeks.

In the end the jury convicted her of three counts to grand larceny and four counts of theft of services.

Her sentencing date is May 9th. She faces up to 15 years in the prison. Here are more details from the media.

Among those bills she hadn't paid or wound up dragging her feet on were the invoices to law firms Perkins Coie, Gibson Dunn, and Lowenstein Sandler. Here is the media coverage on that part of her American style caper. 

Those who have worked in the big time understand perfectly Sorokin's game plan. In ghostwriting/scripting and marketing communications I have clients who operate their enterprises and personal lives on the sheer ability to keep the credit going and enough revenues coming in to pay simple bills like the rent to the landlords of the trophy buildings in Manhattan. 

Only a few times did that cross the line to illegal. For instance, there were arrests for habitual check kiting. 

Sorokin's error in judgment is that she thought she could pull that off without having some solid funding base.

Therefore, she probably felt forced to embezzle almost $300k.

Her lawyer Todd Spodek argued she had every intention of paying it back.

Okay, so did lawyers caught with their hands in the cookie jar embezzling clients' funds. Among them had been the fictional Will Gardner from "Abovethelaw." He got off easy - a temporary suspension of his ability to practice law. More often there is prison time. It is not uncommon for there to be suicides before reporting to prison.

Some might consider it a sad day for hustlers like Sorokin. They came, they saw, and they thought they could become part of the gilded era.

Always-yearning-to-be-rich F. Scott Fitzgerald captured that impulse in "The Great Gatsby." The protagonist of that novel paid for the right to be included with his life.

Meanwhile, Fitzgerald's punishment was an early death from chronic alcoholism. 

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

MeToo - What Baby Boomer Women Had Known for Decades

For every Gretchen Carlson who settled for $20 million and gained unique access to new opportunities, there have many women who lost everything in filing MeToo kinds of lawsuits. 

Yes, litigation meant burning bridges.

The plaintiffs probably felt rage.

They were convinced they were doing the right thing.

They gained satisfaction that they might be helping the next generation of professional women.

But as seasoned players in corporate life they should have anticipated that there would be retaliation.

That's just the way the world works.

In an article in Vanity Fair, Diana Falzone documents the backlash.

Talent agents won't represent the former plaintiffs.

Those in the hiring loop ignore them.

For a large number of them, the settlements weren't big money either, not the Carlson kind.

Therefore, what we now know is that the world hasn't changed much.

The cost of outing alleged injustice remains high. Those in power want their good life to continue. That rules out any possible future trouble from those who are perceived as whistleblowers. 

When baby boomer women first were getting good jobs, those of us fortunate enough to have caring mentors got clued in fast. When I confided to my mentor a perceived wrong by a male colleague his response was: Don't be a cry baby. The message was to suck it up. 

Those who, for example, were victims of handsy behavior patiently applied for other positions in the corporation. It was unthinkable to "report" such behavior. In fact, that behavior was common knowledge.

Perhaps I understood about the code of silence more quickly than many others because I had grown up amidst the machinations of the Frank Hague Machine in Hudson County, New Jersey.

In order to get jobs, have the snow plowed from your street, and be invisible to the police you had to, as the saying went, "not fight city hall."

It was very wrong.

But the system produced busses that ran on time, excellent public schools, low cost medical care at the Medical Center, a new maternity hospital (the famous Margaret Hague), and employment for anyone who wanted to work.

Those who couldn't endure such institutionalized tyranny left. I made it my business from the get-go to get a college scholarship out of state and never return.

Ironically, I ran into a more personal version of tyranny at college. To today I wonder: Would my life have been less filled with suffering had I stayed in Jersey City? There, at least, the rules were absolutely clear and I had no expectation of anything else.

Here's what every woman should know: Whether it had been the political machine in Hudson County, a Catholic women's college in Pennsylvania, or the glam careers in entertainment, the dark part of human nature tends to dominate.

Maybe the best we can do is keep struggling to find where we can live our little lives without losing a sense of dignity and some control.

I bumped into that when I became an independent contractor. I have had real choices about how to earn my living. 

Need affordable help strategically planning and putting together content? That ranges from blog posts and e-books to planning/scripting podcasts and creating traditional speeches. Complimentary consultation on how to generate influence and sell without paying high rates, janegenova374@gmail.com.